Rand Tower Hotel's Bar Rufus opened July 8.
Minneapolis’ historic Rand Tower Hotel debuted the first-floor lobby bar and restaurant, Bar Rufus, on July 8. The hotel will open two additional establishments later this summer along with curated in-room dining, all concepted by chef and Twin-Cities restaurateur Daniel del Prado.
Bar Rufus looks to capture the essence of founder Rufus Rand’s innovative spirit and will feature classic French bistro dishes including Duck a l’Orange with gastrique and serrano peppers; Escargot with bone marrow in a bordelaise sauce; and Le MacDo cheeseburger with shaved white onion, American cheese, and whole grain mustard. Bar Rufus will be open for dinner and cocktails from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. daily with lunch service coming in late summer 2022.
Also coming late summer 2022 to the hotel’s fifth-floor lounge is a playful, personality-driven cocktail bar called Miaou Miaou. In the garden dining room featuring a grand retractable rooftop and outdoor space, del Prado will offer an innovative new take on the future of classic French cuisine at Blondette, also coming online later this summer. Del Prado’s Rand Tower Hotel concepts represent unique culinary experiences in the city, seeking to usher a renaissance in downtown Minneapolis through food and community.
“Minneapolis is moving in a great new direction,” shares del Prado, “There’s so much life and history in downtown. We are excited to bring our concepts here and be part of what keeps our city moving forward.”
The concepts at Rand Tower Hotel will mark the first venture into hotels for the DDP Restaurant Group.
“Usually with buildings with multiple concepts, we try to tie together something in common, but with a different purpose on the whole,” says del Prado of these concepts. “For this project, Rufus Rand was more than just an aviator, so we dug into his life and that was our North Star for inspiration as we worked on the concepts.”
Each venue will feature a unique cocktail menu concepted by DDP Restaurant Group Bar Director Megan Luedtke. Bar Rufus offers a French-centered wine list and cocktails. Miaou Miaou will offer a menu of visually-stunning cocktails in both petite and large formats and will offer selections from the Blondette dinner menu to enjoy in the lounge and rooftop patio.
Del Prado is the owner and operator of some of the Twin Cities’ most successful restaurants including Martina, Colita, Cardamom, Sanjusan, Josefina, and the upcoming Macanda in Wayzata.
New concept Everywhen Burger Bar debuts.
Centro Restaurant Group opened its latest multi-concept bar and restaurant on August 4. The 15,000-square-foot location is home to the group’s second Centro—an abbreviated version of Vivir and its newest concept Everywhen Burger Bar.
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